I am new to the sport and want to dip my toes in by making a fast and tough brick/wedge as my first bot to help me learn some of the intricacies of building, driving, and competing. At this point I only have a rough idea in my head for the chassis of the bot and a handful of ideas for different types of wedges/scoops, but after several days of researching and shopping I think that I have settled on the internals for the bot. I figured that having the guts all picked out would make it easier to design the chassis in CAD so everything will fit together, so before I launch into designing and mocking up the chassis I would really appreciate having some more experienced builders look over my components list and give me a sanity check or even some feedback.
I'm including the mixer so that I can just flip a switch on the transmitter to keep the controls the same for driving inverted. I chose the motors because they seemed to be the best ones I could find that had a good balance of speed and torque, as well as the added benefit of a conveniently available mounting bracket.
I've included a 3S Lipo battery and an ESC that is rated for up to 12V in the list, but I'm on the fence as to whether I should upgrade to a 4S Lipo and an ESC that can take the higher voltage like the Scorpion Wasp. Would it be worth it for the added speed and pushing power of a 4S, or would I be better off sticking with a 3S to make it easier to LTFD?
Looking forward to having to repair/replace parts during a competition, not counting the (as yet undesigned) structural parts of the bot, what parts would I definitely want to have spares of and what parts would probably have no issues surviving a clash with a decent spinner or drum?
Also, I've been thinking about something like the Spektrum DX5e as a decent transmitter to start me off and hopefully last me through multiple bots, but are there any transmitters that particularly stand out for a high recommendation?
With this and all future updates as I build this bot I fully welcome any suggestions, pointers, and constructive criticism of my designs so that I can make this a learning experience and wind up with the best bot that I can make.